


You, In Somber Resplendence

by The Monster Lady (VisceraNight)



Category: Castlevania (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, I Wrote This For Me, I'm Sorry That Tag Is Necessary, Implied Sexual Content, Lesbian Vampires, Light Angst, POV Second Person, Reader Is A Dumbass Because I Am A Dumbass, Reader-Insert, Romance, The Angst Is Entirely Due To Reader Being A Dumbass, vampire reader
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-05-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 16:53:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24420139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VisceraNight/pseuds/The%20Monster%20Lady
Summary: Carmilla returns to Styria, where her vampire wife is waiting for her. Reader and Carmilla take a bath together.
Relationships: Carmilla (Castlevania)/Reader
Comments: 10
Kudos: 129





	You, In Somber Resplendence

~ You, in Somber Resplendence ~

You're sleeping in Carmilla's bed - a habit you developed before she left, which you've yet to break yourself of - when the door bangs open with far more force than necessary, and Styria's wayward queen herself storms into her bedroom.

Although your official title is _queen consort_ , what that amounts to is little more than that you're Carmilla's favorite lover at the moment. You outrank the vampire servants and even the guards, but you'll never be considered part of the sisterhood. You don't share the same strong bond with her that Morana and Striga have between them. This thing between you and Carmilla is tenuous, fragile... and you don't know what you'll do when it breaks. Probably leave. Where you'll go, you have no idea.

But you don't want to think about that now. For now, you're just happy to see her again.

"You're back," you say, your voice thick with sleep.

You spring up from the bed and rush to embrace her before you notice the state she's in. Carmilla's skin is smudged with dirt and old dried blood. Her clothes are fraying at the edges, and she smells like she hasn't bathed once in the entire time she spent traveling.

She probably doesn't want anyone to see her in this condition, and yet here you are, throwing yourself into her arms before she's even had a chance to clean herself up after her long journey. You expect her to push you away, but Carmilla only hesitates for a moment before sliding her arms around your waist and letting her weight fall against you. She buries her face against your neck and sighs.

The proud and stubborn vampire queen would never admit to any kind of vulnerability, least of all an emotional one, but she is clearly touch-starved after her time at Dracula's castle and the trip home.

"I've missed you."

It takes you entirely too long to realize that you're _not_ the one who gave voice to that thought.

"I missed you, too," you say softly, and press your lips to her hair. "Let's get you cleaned up now, alright?"

"God, yes."

You can't help laughing at her enthusiastic agreement.

She lets go of you, but only long enough to put her arms around your neck instead of your waist.

"Carry me," she says.

Underneath the imperious tone of the demand, you can hear her exhaustion. Obligingly, you scoop her up into your arms. A few years ago, before she turned you, you probably wouldn't have been able to do such a thing, but your vampire strength makes it easy now.

In the bathroom, you carefully lower her feet to the floor. She clings to you for a long moment before unwinding her arms from your neck.

You start the water running, and as the tub fills, you undress Carmilla. First comes the jewelry. You carefully slide the bracelets from her wrists over her hands, one at a time, and set them on a towel on the counter. You move behind her and run your finger under the edge of her neckpiece until you find the hidden clasp that will allow you to remove it. The heavy gold piece seems almost more like armor than ornamentation until you think about the fact that gold is a soft metal and any strong vampire's claws or fangs could easily punch through it. You try to turn your mind away from such morbid thoughts as the necklace joins its brethren on the towel on the counter.

Next to come off is her dress, which leaves Carmilla standing before you in just her underclothes and those golden high heels. You kneel before her. Getting the idea without needing to be told, she braces one hand on your shoulder and delicately places her foot on your lap.

You remove her shoe and set it aside, then slowly peel off her stocking. She makes a small noise at the back of her throat as your fingers brush against her thigh in the process. Nothing about your actions is intended to be sexual, and you're doing your best not to touch any sensitive areas, but physical contact at certain points is unavoidable in order to get her clothes off.

You set the empty stocking aside and wait patiently while she settles her bare foot on the floor and places the other foot in your lap to receive the same treatment. Again, you can't entirely avoid touching her thigh when removing her stocking. Carmilla doesn't seem upset by the contact. Quite the opposite, actually. But getting her cleaned up is your objective here, not anything else. (Other things may come later, if she's in the mood for it then...)

Once she's barefoot, you stand up and check the water level in the bath. It's half full now, and you shut the water off.

In the sudden silence, your sharp ears catch the whisper of fabric against skin, and when you turn around you see that Carmilla has stripped out of her undergarments herself. She drops them to the floor and turns toward the bathtub. The corners of her lips curl up into a smirk as soon as she sees you looking at her.

She gestures toward the tub, indicating that you should get in first. You slide the thin straps of your nightgown off your shoulders and let it fall to the floor at your feet. You're wearing nothing under it. You flash her a quick, awkward smile before settling into the water.

You hold out your hand to Carmilla to steady her as she steps into the bath. She curls up in your lap, and you wrap your arms around her waist. She lays her head on your shoulder and sighs. The two of you stay that way for a long while, not particularly worried about getting clean for the moment, just enjoying the way it feels to be in each other's arms again after the long months you spent apart.

Not a word has been spoken between you since that small exchange when she first entered the bedroom. Carmilla is the one who breaks the silence.

"What were you sleeping at this time of night for, anyway?"

You're not going to lie to her. You don't think you _could_ lie to her even though you want to. And you're going to answer truthfully, but first there's something about her question that bothers you.

"You're not going to ask why I was sleeping in your bed?"

She scoffs. "I already know the answer to that: because you missed me." After a brief pause, she adds, "Unless there's something wrong with your bed?"

"No," you answer a little too quickly. "It's because I missed you."

"See, I didn't need to ask. So, why were you sleeping in the middle of the night?"

You really don't want to tell her, but you can't deny her anything.

"I had a fight with Striga and Morana."

Upon hearing this, Carmilla sits bolt upright and shrieks, " _You WHAT?!_ "

"An argument," you quickly correct yourself. "Not a fight."

Her expression morphs from _about to kill someone_ to one of restrained anger.

"An argument about what?"

"I wanted to go and look for you, but they told me no."

"And you listened?"

As if you had any choice other than to listen.

You look away as you admit, "They said you'd be angry if you got home before me and found out they'd let me run off on my own searching for you. I tried to leave anyway, but Striga caught me before I even made it out of the castle."

Carmilla cups your face in her hands and gently turns your head so you'll look her in the eyes.

"And that's why you were sulking in my room," she says. It's not a question.

"And then I fell asleep."

You don't mention that you cried a little bit, or that her scent - which still clings faintly to her pillows and sheets - comforted you so much that you were relaxed enough to fall asleep even in the middle of the night.

She leans in and brushes a light kiss to your lips. You catch a faint taste of blood before she pulls away. Her hands drop down to your shoulders as she presses her lips to your cheek. From there she trails soft kisses over your jaw and down your neck. You melt under the sensual barrage. Your grip slackens and one of your hands strays to her thigh. Her chin dips below the water line as she presses her mouth to the hollow of your throat.

Carmilla lifts her head to deliver another quick kiss to your lips before she sighs and settles against you once more, burying her face in the crook of your neck.

"Hmm, well," she murmurs against your skin with a thoughtful hum. "Before we forget what we came in here for, I suppose I should let you wash me."

Reluctantly, you move your hands from where they rest, immediately missing the feel of her soft skin against your fingers. You scoop water over her back and shoulders, wetting the skin to loosen caked-on dirt and old dried blood, and thoroughly soaking her hair. Wetting the hair at the top of her head is more tricky, since she's still clinging to you and doesn't seem inclined to let go anytime soon.

But you don't want her to let go of you, so even though it's awkward and time-consuming, you manage to wash her back and hair with her pressed against you.

"You'll have to move if you want me to wash the rest of you."

Carmilla pulls away from you, and you feel the loss keenly. Yes, she's still right there, but you'd do anything to have her body against yours again.

She plucks the washcloth from your hand and starts to briskly scrub herself, apparently impatient to be done with the bath now. While she's doing that, you get out of the bathtub and dry yourself off. By the time Carmilla is finished cleaning herself up, you have your nightgown back on and are waiting beside the tub with a towel, which you wrap around her as she steps out.

It's at this point that you realize you didn't bring clean clothes for Carmilla into the bathroom with you. You're about to go and get some, but then she drops the towel carelessly to the floor and you're distracted at the sight of her bared body. (Not that you haven't seen her naked plenty of times before, but still...)

She walks out of the bathroom, and by the time your brain starts working again and you follow her into the bedroom, she has already gotten dressed and is now brushing her hair. Again, you're arrested by her beauty and you stand staring - like an idiot - from the doorway. The nightgown she's wearing isn't the one you would have chosen for her. You would have picked one similar to your own, with a floor-length skirt. The one she's wearing is so short it only hangs to mid-thigh.

She sets the brush down and turns around, smirking when she catches you staring at her.

"Come to bed," she says, in a tone of voice that lets you know _exactly_ what she wants you there for.

"You need to rest."

That said, you join her on the mattress anyway.

"Then help me relax," she says, and presses her lips to yours before you can argue.

Your hand finds her thigh and slides slowly upward under the short skirt of her nightgown...

* * *

By the time Carmilla actually goes to sleep, it's almost dawn. You don't have to wonder whether you should go back to your own bedroom or not. The fact that she's chosen to use your stomach as a pillow is a good indication that she wants you to stay here with her.

When you wake up, it's evening and Carmilla is already up and getting dressed.

You yawn and stretch.

Noticing that you're awake, Carmilla tells you, "Get dressed."

"My clothes are in my room," you protest, not getting up.

You're still sitting in the middle of her bed when she finishes dressing.

She starts for the door, then turns back to look at you with a frown.

"Well, come on," she says impatiently.

You finally get up and follow her to your room. She doesn't hesitate to enter, and immediately goes to the closet, going through your clothes until she finds a dress she likes. (It also happens to be your favorite, and you wonder if she remembers that.)

"Here, wear this one."

While you change into the dress, she sifts through the contents of your jewelry box until she finds the set that goes with this dress. The pieces match it perfectly - as she would know, since she had them commissioned specifically to go with the dress, which was also a gift from Carmilla.

It seems a little fancy for just a normal day, which is why you don't wear this particular outfit very often.

"What's the occasion?" you wonder aloud, the words slipping from your mouth before you have a chance to think better of them.

"You're happy that I'm home and you want to look your best for me," she says with a smug smile as she puts the finishing touches on your appearance. Then she brushes a soft kiss to your cheek and says, "Now, come on."

She takes you by the hand and leads you out into the hallway. You wonder where she's taking you, but can't quite bring yourself to ask.

As you approach the door of the council room, you let your hand slip from hers.

Carmilla turns to look at you.

"What's wrong?" she asks.

"I just..." You trail off.

"What?"

"Nothing. It's fine."

Carmilla doesn't seem satisfied with that answer, but she doesn't press any further. Instead, she takes your hand in hers once more and pushes the door open with her free hand, leading you into the room.

You don't know why she's doing this. You're not allowed in this room, and surely her sisters will protest your presence.

You step into the conference room and see that there are two empty chairs at the table. Striga, Morana, and Lenore are all here already, all seated.

And that's when you finally understand.

 _Oh. She really does love me_.

Now that you think about it, it should have been obvious all along.

"Why are you crying?"

"Carmilla, what did you do to her?"

"I didn't do anything! Why do you think it's my fault?"

"She's _your_ wife, and none of us have seen either of you from the time you got home until now. Obviously you must have done _something_."

You turn and throw your arms around Carmilla, burying your face against her neck.

"It's alright," she says, stroking your hair, still very obviously confused about why you're crying.

"I love you," you murmur against her skin.

"What? I know," she responds, nonplussed. And then, "Oh... I love you, too."

You almost forget that the others are witnessing this until Lenore pipes up, "Please tell me that's not the first time you've _told_ her that."

"I thought it was obvious!"

" _Carmilla_ ," Morana gasps in a scandalized tone.

"No wonder she's crying," adds Striga.

"Oh my god, Carmilla, she's thought she was just your favorite pet this whole time," Lenore says, covering her mouth with her hand to stifle her giggles.

"We're _married_!" Carmilla protests.

"And she might have realized that you meant, like... married _for real_ if you'd given her equal status as queen."

" _I'm_ the queen! No one gets to have as much power as me, not even my wife."

As the sisters continue to bicker, you sob into Carmilla's shoulder. She holds you close and strokes her hand through your hair to soothe you, but now that the dam has been broken, you don't think you'll be able to stop anytime soon.

~end~


End file.
